New director named to Mesker Park zoo

EVANSVILLE -- Huddled with his two children on a deck overlooking the base of a waterfall in Amazonia at Mesker Park Zoo Wednesday, Amos Morris pointed up a nearby tree to a motionless prehensile-tailed porcupine lounging on a branch.

The rain forest creature's tail is so long and so strong, it can use it to hang off tree limbs for long periods of time, Morris explained, calmly imparting his passion for animals to Dalton, 7, and Aubrey, 9.

Soon Morris will be sharing that passion with the whole Evansville community.

Morris, curator of mammals at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium, will be the next director of Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. Set to start Jan. 5, 2009, he follows Dan McGinn, who resigned in April for unspecified personal reasons.

Morris, who visited the zoo for two days during the interview process, credited the enthusiasm and professionalism of the staff with cementing his decision to relocate here, a city he said he'd never been to previously.

"The driving force for me is the staff," he said. "It was contagious. As I was walking through, it was like 'How can I be a part of this team?' ...

They appear to be driven to want to show Evansville and this region they can pull off a good zoo. All I felt is that I can help them."

Morris praised Amazonia -- the new $13 million centerpiece of the zoo -- as a "world-class exhibit" that will figure prominently in the facility's future direction.

Without knowing the staff and without extensive knowledge about this zoo, Morris hesitated to list specific changes he intends to make. But he said he didn't like extensive use of chain-link fence in the facility, a practice he called "very old philosophy" that "doesn't show the true essence of the animals behind it."

Morris, whose specialty centers includes work on animal husbandry and management, said the zoo under his direction will put a strong emphasis on education and conservation. And the utmost priority will be respect and compassion for the animals.

He said was one of more than 40 applicants for the position from all across the country.

He said the hiring was the result of a search for someone who would fit well in the community, provide a good understanding of how the zoo works and be capable of taking it to heights even beyond Amazonia, which has more than doubled zoo attendance since it opened.

"We're confident we've found that person," Weinzapfel said.

In addition to spending the last seven years in Pittsburgh, Morris has worked at zoos in Rhode Island, Detroit, Dallas and St. Louis. A native of Jefferson City, Mo., he has a combined 19 years in the field and was recently elected to the ethics board of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Hours after the midmorning announcement of his hiring in Weinzapfel's office, Morris, wife Mary and the children were at the zoo touring Amazonia, which opened in August, Dalton and Aubrey strolled through the rainforest-themed exhibit excitedly -- frequently beckoning a parent to see a new animal they noticed around them: Fish, monkeys, a jaguar, even a giant cockroach.

By the time a post-Amazonia question-and-answer session with zoo staff was complete, Dalton was tugging at his father's coat, asking when they could see the rest of the zoo.